Teenagers Have Little Trouble Buying Cigarettes, Survey Finds

Though every state bans the sale of tobacco products to minors, many
of those laws aren't working, a government study shows.

Children nationwide found it easier to buy cigarettes in 1993 than
in 1989, according to the study by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The research also found that most minors who
smoke buy their own cigarettes and that they make most of those
purchases at small stores, such as convenience stores.

Federal researchers based their analysis on data from the 1989 and
1993 Teenage Attitudes and Practices surveys, which involved telephone
and personal interviews conducted with teenagers drawn from a
representative sample of U.S. households. Their report appeared in the
CDC's Feb. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Between 1989 and 1993, the percentage of teenage smokers ages 12 to
17 who said they usually bought their own cigarettes increased from
57.5 percent to 61.9 percent.

But the increase was larger among younger smokers. Among 12- to
15-year-olds, the proportion rose 7 percentage points, from 45.4
percent to 52.4 percent. For those ages 16 to 17, the percentage who
bought their own cigarettes grew from 66.6 to 69.1.

Of the three main ways teenagers bought cigarettes--at vending
machines, large stores, and small stores--the proportion who said they
often or sometimes bought from small stores was the only one to
increase between 1989 and 1993, rising from 85 percent to 89
percent.

Just over half, 55.3 percent, of minors ages 12 to 17 reported that
they had ever been asked to show proof of age when they bought or tried
to buy cigarettes.

A study by Massachusetts researchers that tracked compliance with
that state's ban on selling tobacco to minors found some improvement
since 1986, but concluded that young people can easily obtain
cigarettes.

In 1994, boys and girls ages 12 to 17 who were recruited by the
researchers made 480 attempts to buy cigarettes from vending machines
and over-the-counter outlets. They were successful in 157, or 33
percent, of those tries.

The study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts
Medical Center in Worcester followed on one eight years before and
appeared in February's American Journal of Public Health,
published by the Washington-based American Public Health
Association.

The study found that the youths were almost twice as successful
buying from vending machines as they were in making over-the-counter
purchases. Forty-two percent of the tries at a vending machine were
successful, compared with 23 percent of the attempts at a counter.
Overall, the students were asked for proof of age only 28 percent of
the time.

Vending machines with lockout devices--which an employee must unlock
for the machine to work--did help deter sales, the study found.

Girls had an easier time buying cigarettes, even when the
researchers controlled for the fact they may have looked older than
their age.

Anxious and depressed teenagers are more than twice as likely to be
smokers as their less troubled peers, an Australian study has
found.

The study by researchers at the University of Melbourne also found
that teenagers who are regular smokers are almost twice as likely as
occasional smokers to report high levels of depression and anxiety.

The study, published in the February's American Journal of Public
Health, defined regular smokers as those who had smoked three or
more days in the past week, and occasional smokers as those who smoked
on two or fewer days a week.

The researchers examined smoking habits among 2,525 students in 46
schools who were in the equivalent of 8th, 10th, and 12th grades.

They found a link between psychiatric problems and regular smoking
in girls of all the age groups studied, but for boys only in the
youngest group.

Teenagers with high levels of anxiety and depression may choose to
smoke, the authors say, because they expect psychological and social
benefits. Those perceived benefits may outweigh what they perceive as
the distant, future health risks.

Instead of focusing on smoking's health hazards, the authors write,
anti-smoking messages should enhance the perceptions of personal
control among young people and offer advice about alternative
strategies for negotiating social situations where the risk for smoking
is high.

--Millicent Lawton

Vol. 15, Issue 23

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.